Just named Chamber Music America’s 2024 ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR, the Dalí Quartet is acclaimed for bringing Latin American quartet repertoire to an equal standing alongside the Classical and Romantic canon. Tours of its Classical Roots, Latin Soul programming have reached enthusiastic audiences across the U.S., Canada and South America. Its fresh approach has been sought out by distinguished series in New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, San Juan and countless communities beyond. The quartet has been called upon for return engagements at the National Gallery of Art, Friends of Chamber Music in Portland, Chamber Music at Beall, and the SA’OAXACA International Music Festival among others. 2023 debut appearances include the Bravo!Vail Festival, Princeton Summer Festival, Maverick Concerts the Library of Congress and return engagements at the Virginia Arts Festival, Chamber Music Tulsa, and Portland Friends of Chamber Music.  The quartet’s latest CD is Voces Latinas is now available on Centaur Records.

The Dalí Quartet members are violinists Ari Isaacman-Beck and Carlos Rubio, violist Adriana Linares, and cellist Jesús Morales.

As soloists, the Dalí Quartet have performed Anna Clyne’s new Quarter Days for quartet and orchestra with the Harrisburg Symphony and conductor Stuart Malina, part of the co-commission with the South Bend Symphony and Fischoff National Chamber Music Association. Quarter Days follows two quartet concerto premieres the Dalí performed with Orchestra Lumos and conductor Michael Stern: Fiesta No. 2 by Sonia Morales-Matos and Suite Latina by Juan Ramirez.

The quartet enjoys an ongoing performance collaboration with Van Cliburn Gold Medal-winning pianist Olga Kern, with whom they have toured from coast to coast and recorded the piano quintets of Brahms and Shostakovich. That Delos CD was met by high praise – “muscular phrasing and a taut collective sonority” (MusicWeb International). The Dalí has recorded the Weber Clarinet Quintet with Ricardo Morales, famed principal clarinetist of The Philadelphia Orchestra with whom they perform for select dates.  New collaborations include ‘The Eight Seasons’ and ‘Folias de Tango’ with Giampaolo Bandini, guitar and Cesare Chiacchiaretta accordion & bandoneón. Program information.

The Dalí Quartet is the winner of the 2023 Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award from ACMP, is winner of the 2021 Silver Medal at the inaugural Piazzolla Music Competition, and is the 2021 recipient of the Guarneri String Quartet Residency, funded by the Sewell Family Foundation. In 2019 the Dalí was honored with the Atlanta Symphony’s esteemed Aspire Award for accomplished African American and Latino Musicians. They founded the much admired Dalí Quartet International Music Festival in 2004 which develops the performance skills of musicians through semi-professional level. Currently Quartet in Residence at West Chester University, the Dalí has also served as a resident ensemble at Lehigh University and given mini residencies at countless colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.

Trained by world-renowned artists, members of the Dalí Quartet are from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the US, and have degrees from esteemed institutions including the New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Juilliard, Indiana University Bloomington, and the Simón Bolivar Conservatory in Caracas, Venezuela.

Inspired by its namesake, the great Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the quartet holds imagination and excellence at the heart of its music making. The quartet is based in Philadelphia, PA.

The quartet serves as faculty at West Chester University Wells School of Music as the Quartet in Residence, and is an Iris Collective Resident Ensemble.

The Dalí Quartet proudly uses Pirastro Strings and WMutes. Full biographies and more information at: www.DaliQuartet.com

Dalí Quartet is named Chamber Music America’s 2024 ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR

Dalí Quartet wins ACMP’s 2023 Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award: An Interview with the Dalí Quartet: Winners of the 2023 Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award

CD News: Centaur Records releases the Dalí Quartet’s latest CD, Voces Latinas, an expertly curated mix of Latin voices including works by Alberto Ginastera, Efraín Amaya, Juan Bautista Plaza, Sonia Morales-Matos, Astor Piazzolla, and the beloved ‘La Cumparsita’ by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez in an arrangement by Javier Montiel.

Fanfare Magazine reviews the CD with praise for the Dalí Quartet’s “silken elegance”. About the Ginastera Quartet #1, “its Latin-American roots come more to the fore. The Dali …plays with its own unique freshness.”
“Connections to Latin-American styles and rhythms have always enlivened classical music, serving as welcome seasoning. This lovely disc is a perfect example.”

Orchestra Lumos hosts Dalí Quartet community residency – video

Delos CD Release
We are proud to announce the arrival of the new CD by the Dalí Quartet and pianist Olga Kern. Recorded at the Virginia Arts Festival, the CD features the piano quintets of Brahms and Shostakovich, both landmarks of the chamber music repertoire. Early reviews note the ensemble “bristles with searing intensity” (ionarts). MusicWeb International notes hails the Shostakovich: “I can think of no other recent performance of this magisterial score as genuinely enjoyable and sunny as this superb interpretation by Kern and the Dalís.” More information and audio sample.

Congratulations Dalí!
We are proud to announce that the Dalí Quartet is the 2021 recipient of the Guarneri String Quartet Residency, funded by the Sewell Family Foundation and awarded through Chamber Music America.​ The quartet’s latest engagements including SA’Oaxaca Festival Internacional de Cuerdas, Banff International String Quartet Festival (Sept. 3 free concert video link), UCLA’s Bruman Concerts and two concerts at Strathmore Hall featuring a new work by composer Sonia Morales.

Dalí Wins Silver Medal in Piazzolla Music Competition
The international music competition for instrumentalists and ensembles in honor of Astor Piazzolla’s music and 100th birthday.
More…

Dali Quartet featured in Chamber Music Magazine
Enjoy this ‘American ‘Ensemble’ feature in the latest edition of Chamber Music Magazine, and see how the busy Dalí Quartet spends part of every summer. Their International Music Festival includes everything — even wellness seminars, career workshops, folk music and dance demonstrations. CMA Magazine Dali Quartet Feature

Dalí Quartet at the Virginia Arts Festival: WHRO interview

Dalí Quartet & Olga Kern to the 2019 Virginia Arts Festival, will record
The Dalí Quartet and Van Cliburn gold-medal-winning pianist Olga Kern will join forces to perform and record during the Virginia Arts Festival in May 2019. Olga Kern is the festival’s new Director of Chamber Music and the Dalí will spend a week giving performances, educational outreach, and joining Ms. Kern for recordings of both the Brahms and the Shostakovich Piano Quintets. The five artists have just returned from their western US/Canadian fall tour, including appearances at the Soka Performing Arts Center, the University of Oregon Chamber Music@Beall series and at Chamber Music Kelowna – which wrote to us “We had almost a full house, despite Cirque du Soleil performing next door and another concert in our bigger theatre at the same time. Our audiences loved the artists! The outreach also made it clear that the Quartet makes the audience comfortable and gets a warm welcome in return. And Olga was a perfect addition to the program. Thank you for making all of this happen!” The next quintet concerts are in April in Overland Park and Manhattan, Kansas.

2019/20 dates are now available for this quintet option. Programs suggestions here. Inquire about date availability here.

The Dalí Quartet brought the excitement of its signature mix of Latin American and European classical and romantic music to the WRTI 90.1 Performance Studio. Listen…

The Dalí Quartet has been named String Quartet in Residence by West Chester University. Starting in early 2018, the Dalí Quartet joins West Chester University’s string faculty. More…

WHYY-TV features the Dalí Quartet on Friday Arts, a regular program on the Philadelphia PBS station’s commitment to the arts. Hear the quartet perform and talk about its varied repertoire and its work with youth at the Dali Quartet International Music Festival. The program, titled “The Dalí Quartet: Classical Roots, Latin Souls” was produced by Karen Smyles and is available here.

Dalí Quartet at the Library of Congress: “Dalí Quartet brings Latin panache to Library of Congress Stradivari anniversary” [Headline] “All four musicians shone with brilliant accuracy in the rollicking Finale, a mock-serious fugue that proved a technical tour de force.” [Beethoven Quartet in C Major, op. 59, #3] Washington Classical Review

Dalí Quartet named 2024 Ensemble of the Year THE STRAD

Dalí Quartet at the Maverick Festival: “The Dalí Quartet’s Maverick Concerts debut…delighted from start to finish”. And about Ginastera’s Quartet #1, op. 20: “The Dalí then brought down the house with the allegramente rustico, a ferocious, dance-like rondo that ends the piece.” Boston Musical Intelligencer

Dalí Quartet at the Bravo!Vail Festival – “the festival offers stellar chamber music. The evening I flew in, on July 11, I saw the Dalí Quartet make its Bravo!Vail debut in nearby Beaver Creek. A highlight of the concert was the ensemble’s relentless vigor and unabashed humor during the jaunty String Quartet No. 2, Magueyes, by Silvestre Revueltas.” Esteban Meneses/I Care If You Listen

Dalí Quartet at the Bravo!Vail Festival – “The Dalí Quartet is an ensemble that literally breathes together… the four moved and played as a single unit, virtually locked in an embrace, playing Haydn’s String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5, with impeccable ensemble.” EarRelevant.net

“A highlight of the concert was the ensemble’s relentless vigor and unabashed humor during the jaunty String Quartet No. 2, Magueyes, by Silvestre Revueltas.” I Care if You Listen

“the Dalí Quartet’s Latin American program alternately glimmered and blazed”…. [A] beautifully prepared program”.
Philadelphia Inquirer

Dalí Quartet at Princeton Summer Chamber Concerts – “Dalí Quartet contrasted Schubert’s Viennese elegance with the raw fire and saucy passion of Piazzolla… jazzy and streetwise” TownTopics.com

Dalí Quartet at Princeton Summer Chamber Concerts – “In Case You Missed It: Dali Quartet Gets Princeton Audience Dancing in the Aisles [Headline] A sparkling performance by the Dali Quartet to a capacity crowd at its July 28 concert may prove to be the musical highlight of the summer season.” Tapinto.net

“Together, theirs was an eager, thunderous performance. Excellent communication gave the roles clarity. Brahms wrote lovingly for each voice and positioned them together in fascinating ways, the musicians leaning into these voicings with excellent results.” [Pianist Olga Kern with the Dalí Quartet] KC Studio 

“Each piece was livelier and more uninhibited than the last, as the quartet sunk deeper and with obviously greater pleasure into its dance-band persona, with instruments turned on their sides and strummed like guitars and ratchet percussion imitated by bowing below the bridge.”
San Francisco Classical Voice

The Dalí Quartet gave a beautifully judged performance … They gave the music time to breath; and while each player made the most of the solo turns Mozart gave them, they balanced and blended well as an ensemble.”
Classical Voice North Carolina (CVNC.org)

“A new concept in classical music”
La Semana

“this performance delivered with excellence of expression and ensemble.”
Peninsula Reviews

“Villa-Lobos is conscientious about spreading his solos around, giving plenty of melodic leads to the deep, rich viola of Adriana Linares and the crisp, vigorous cello of Jesús Morales.”
San Francisco Classical Voice

“forged a near-instant rapport with the audience… In no time, the 300-plus audience members were on their feet”
Killeen Daily Herald

“stunningly played”
Lincoln Journal Star

…a remarkable ensemble; it’s a true crossover group in the best sense of the word. Made up entirely of Hispanic musicians who are proud of their roots, they bring together the best music by Latin American and European composers. The result is a rare treat for everyone… a spectacular performance of works by the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos and the German Felix Mendelssohn. They also threw three shorter pieces by two other 20th century Latin American composers into the mix that turned this program into an evening of musical magic.”
ReichelRecommends.com

“Dalí has a big, lush sound. They captured the elegance and lightness of the Haydn quartet and did not have any difficulty in switching to the dissonant drama of one of Beethoven’s most stormy chamber music works. As expected, they handled the Latin American music with authoritative ease.
The Morning Call

“The Dali is known for its emphasis on Latin music, and the playbill was filled with works from south of the border…a strong appearance…gathering heavy applause at the end of the first half…This great effort brought Meadowlark patrons to their feet with approving cheers and whistles.”
Lincoln Journal Star

“The deep, plush sound of the viola and cello supported a gorgeous, singing first violin melody in the second movement. Their playing of the third movement brought out its sparkling quality as well as the special tone generated by canonic writing. The Dalí players made the most of the vivid rhythm of the czardas dance Brahms used in the finale.”
CVNC.org

“four young players – one originally from Cuba and the others from Venezuela….The program they performed would have challenged any ensemble: Turina’s “La oracion del torero”, the Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428 by Mozart; Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110, and Piazzolla’s “Four, for Tango.
“The quartet already has achieved a rich, highly integrated and balanced sound. …their playing exhibited a high level of technical competence and musical understanding…”
The Morning Call

“They were wonderful! Not only were the members of the Dali Quartet excellent musicians, they were a delight to work with. Friendly, unassuming, and extremely talented.”
Joan Gillner, Wildflower Music Festival

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“Dalí Quartet brings Latin panache to Library of Congress Stradivari anniversary” [Headline] “All four musicians shone with brilliant accuracy in the rollicking Finale, a mock-serious fugue that proved a technical tour de force.” [Beethoven Quartet in C Major, op. 59, #3] Washington Classical Review

“The Dalí Quartet’s Maverick Concerts debut…delighted from start to finish”. And about Ginastera’s Quartet #1, op. 20: “The Dalí then brought down the house with the allegramente rustico, a ferocious, dance-like rondo that ends the piece.” Boston Musical Intelligencer

“A highlight of the concert was the ensemble’s relentless vigor and unabashed humor during the jaunty String Quartet No. 2, Magueyes, by Silvestre Revueltas.” I Care if You Listen

CD Review, Brahms & Shostakovich Quintets: “muscular phrasing and a taut collective sonority.” “I can think of no other recent performance of this magisterial score as genuinely enjoyable and sunny as this superb interpretation by Kern and the Dalís.” MusicWeb International

CD Review Voces Latinas: “Connections to Latin-American styles and rhythms have always enlivened classical music, serving as welcome seasoning. This lovely disc is a perfect example.”
“It’s a delight ! …silken elegance”
“its Latin-American roots come more to the fore. The Dali …plays with its own unique freshness.” Fanfare Magazine [PDF]

CD Review, Shostakovich Quintet: “The Lento first movement bristles with searing intensity, from both Kern and the quartet. The strings-only sections of the second movement are lush and contained, with Kern’s rumbling octaves adding an air of distant menace. This quintet’s Scherzo, a happy-go-lucky romp with plucky melodies that turn a little maniacal, could not be more different from the one composed by Brahms. Yearning string lines sing sweetly in the Intermezzo, accompanied by soft pizzicati or pulsed piano chords. Kern’s bold touch at the keyboard propels the finale, which subsides to an understated finish.” IONARTS

Virginia Gazette “What the Ginastera showcased was its remarkable technical abilities. The work is difficult and challenges its players in major ways. The quartet handled the gymnastics of the piece and delivered a high grade, absolutely stimulating rendering of it.”

With clarinetist Ricardo Morales:
“In this iconic work, the string quartet displayed incredibly uniformity and cohesion of sound, rising individually from the texture when appropriate and allowing the clarinet to come through at key moments. The quintet brought forth an impressive array of colors. In the last iteration of the theme closing movement one, the group crafted a calming mood in anticipation of the opening notes of movement two. Within the confines of muted restraint, the quintet brought forth poignant arrival points heading into the Hungarian-influenced cadenza section, which Morales navigated floridly. Uplifting and optimistic, movement three unfolded organically, and the strings kept the momentum high through the rest of the movement. In the theme and variations found in movement four, the ensemble transitioned effortlessly between the fluctuating ideas, textures, and colors demanded by the composer. With movement four ending as the entire work began, the quintet artfully brought closure to this masterpiece by Brahms.” [Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet]
ICA ClarinetFest

Virginia Gazette – with pianist Olga Kern “The Dali and Kern team offered a stellar, captivating performance that allowed the Schumann to take on more of a symphonic feel than an ordinary piano quintet. They offered a big sound and big rewards in coordinated, extremely artistic, and panoramic sounds that brought the crowd to its feet in spontaneous applause.”

KC Studio “Villa-Lobos used playful slides, a fascinating array of timbres, and energies casting from frenzied to laconic, themes pulled from popular Brazilian melodies. I especially savored the way Rubio connected with his cohorts, coming in under a phase and letting it blossom; Salerni’s wild, almost operatic approach; Linares’ forthwith tone and melodic subtly; as well as Morales’ commanding air of a hard rock bassist.”

KC Studio  – “Together, theirs was an eager, thunderous performance. Excellent communication gave the roles clarity. Brahms wrote lovingly for each voice and positioned them together in fascinating ways, the musicians leaning into these voicings with excellent results.”
[with pianist Olga Kern]

Philadelphia Inquirer  [PDF]    “Latin American program alternately glimmered and blazed”…. “[A] beautifully prepared program.”

Classical Voice NC   [PDF]       “a beautifully judged performance”

San Francisco Classical Voice [PDF]  “dance-band persona”

Peninsula Reviews “glowing warmth…expressive vocal style”

La Semana [PDF] “A new concept in classical music”

Park City Daily      “passionate, moving… a wonderful evening”

Killeen Daily Herald    “a near-instant rapport with the audience”

The Morning Call     “a talented young chamber music ensemble”

Chestnut Hill Local    “played with passion and precision”

Lincoln Journal Star    “stunningly played”

Corpus Christi Island

Chamber Music Magazine   “Hello Dalí”

Symphony Magazine  “the only high-school string program within the 10,000 student district”

El Popular (Toronto) Canadian Debut/Debuta en Canada  “Mooredale Concerts presentará una de las más frescas voces en música clásica y la música latinoamericana”

 

Latest CD, Voces Latinasvideo
Live Concert Link – video
Program: Villa Lobos, Ginastera, Brahms Quintet

Banff Festival Concert – video
Program: Piazzolla: Tango Ballet; Piazzolla: Four, for Tango; Arriaga: Quartet #3, movement II; Ginastera: Quartet #1

Arriaga: Quartet No. 3 In E-flat major, 1st movement Allegro – video
Dalí Quartet Youth Outreach sizzler – video
Dalí Quartet media page link – video

Live concert on Instant Encore – listen
Weber Clarinet Quintet with clarinetist Ricardo Morales – Allegro – video
Dalí Quartet visits Rosa Parks elementary – video
Dalí Quartet community residency for Orchestra Lumos – video

Dalí Quartet International Music Festival feature on WYHH

Photo Credit: Ryan Brandenberg

Dali Quartet sample programs 2024_25
Repertoire 2023-2026
Dali Quartet with pianist Olga Kern
Dali Quartet & Bandini-Chiacchiaretta Duo_4 special programs — guitar, accordion & bandoneón

Dalí Quartet collaborates with these fine artists:
Pianist Olga Kern (courtesy of Arabella-Arts)
Clarinetist Ricardo Morales
Percussionist Orlando Cotto
Pianist Vanessa Perez (courtesy of Cadenza Artists)

The Dalí Quartet (Chamber Music America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year) offers inventive, imaginative and intelligent community outreach and educational programming. The quartet has designed successful programs for colleges and universities, for performing arts centers, arts councils, chamber music societies and symphonies. The group has created engaging programming for the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child program in collaboration with the Tulsa Public School System and Chamber Music Tulsa that has reached Tulsa’s entire fourth grade for three years. Link to educational programming suggestions.

Dalí Quartet Youth Outreach sizzler – video
Dalí Quartet visits Rosa Parks elementary – watch
Dalí Quartet community residency for Orchestra Lumos – video

In addition to serving as Quartet in Residence at West Chester University, the quartet has been Ulrich Artists-In-Residence at Lehigh University, and serves as IRIS Orchestra Resident Ensemble. The group’s chamber music and orchestral summer program, the Dali Quartet International Music Festival is a hugely successful performing and teaching festival reaching hundreds of junior, youth and pre-college level participants, now entering its second decade.

“The [Dalí] Quartet was truly amazing. Along with being generous, outgoing individuals, they delighted our audiences with their exemplary talent and energy. The Quartet put together both educational concerts for our young audiences and collaborated with conductor Ricardo Lorenz and marimba soloist Orlando Cotto to offer original and breathtaking experiences for our most sophisticated patrons. I would be thrilled to work with the Dali String Quartet anytime again in the future and highly recommend them as performers and people.” – Tamara Cass, Executive Director, Meadowlark Music Festival

“They can use Latin American tangos to engage with audiences of varying ethnic backgrounds and then later connect them to the traditional quartet repertoire with an equally entertaining performance of a Mozart string quartet.” – Jeri Lynn Johnson, Music Director, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra

“The key to their success is that the musicians sense the nature of the audience first and then craft a program to meet the specific needs and abilities of that audience. When I have a spot to fill in a school visit, I always look to the Dalí Quartet musicians first, because I know they will always be dynamic, engaging, and fabulous!” – Alice Anne Schwab, Director of Education, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra

“The Dalí Quartet has a passion for music and a passion for people. They have delighted audiences and are inspiring the next generation to discover the joy and power of music.” – Steven Tenenbom, Violist, Orion Quartet; Faculty, Juilliard School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music